US makes Covid vaccines compulsory for federal health employees

After New York, the United States has decided that all federal health care workers around the country will have to get fully vaccinated against coronavirus.

"Our number one goal is the health and safety of the American public, including our federal workforce. And vaccines are the best tool we have to protect people from COVID-19, prevent the spread of the Delta variant, and save lives," HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.

Also read | COVID-19 may become mostly a childhood disease in a few years: Study

This mandate will include 25,000 employees of the Department of Health and Human Services around the country. These employees come in direct contact with Covid patients, and the government, therefore, wants to protect them.

The mandate comes a little after US President Joe Biden announced that all federal employees will have to get fully vaccinated against Covid or face tough restrictions including regular testing.

Also read | Pregnant people should get vaccinated soon to protect their babies: CDC

"As President Biden has said, we have to do all we can to increase vaccinations to keep more people safe," Becerra said. "Instructing our HHS health care workforce to get vaccinated will protect our federal workers and the patients and people they serve."

HHS is the third federal department to bring in the vaccine mandate after the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Pentagon.

This mandate has come at a time when the country is struggling to contain the spread of the Delta variant of coronavirus in the US. The US recently observed nearly a 40 per cent hike of cases within a week due to the variant.